LUNCH PAIL RUNNER


LUNCH PAIL RUNNER


We must find the work that brings our lives meaning.

-The Lunch Pail Manifesto


Now that the gyms have emptied out and the weather here in the Northeast is destined to return back to the frigid temperatures we are accustomed to I’d like to reflect on the the work ahead. Lots of people will now shut down the running part of their lives and opt for the warmer activities. Frankly, there isn’t anything wrong with that. Who am I to judge? But for the core runner, the runner with Spring Marathon goals, their running program is just now starting.


This work, this winter running, includes an even smaller sect of folks within the larger running community. These runners are like the Jedi toiling away at their craft when it is dark and cold. The streets become emptier and purpose becomes fleeting. But that’s it, isn’t it? The purpose. Why are we doing this right now? Some folks just can’t or don’t want to stop doing this. The winter, to them, is just running in the cold and not a signal to shut it down or take to the treadmill.



    For those planning to run the Boston Marathon, Eugene Marathon, Myrtle Beach or Grandma’s, you are literally beginning a 16-week journey toward your race. Who can think about stopping when your program is just starting? I mean, let’s face it, you had to have known when you signed top for these races that you’d have to run through this weather.This is when the “lunch pail” kicks in.


We’ve heard it before haven’t we? The lunch pail person whether it’s a worker or a politician it refers to a person who simply wakes up and goes to work every day with little to no hoopla. This isn’t to say that these “lunch pail” workers and politicians aren’t working hard or doing special things while the work is done but it is saying that said person will show up to do a job… every single day. Every runner, every day… is that too cheesy?


You have your program ready for you and the quitters have already quit. This early in the program isn’t time to PR or do anything special. Just carry that lunch pail to work and “get ‘er done.” Around these parts temperatures can get to single digits and lots of those midwestern states will have temperatures even more frigid than ours. No time to think right? If you think about whether or not to go out then your goose is already cooked. That’s the lunch pail runner. 


Who has time to reason about whether or not to go out for a run when it is -2 degrees outside. All the brain ever wants to do is preserve and survive. It makes zero sense to do half of what runners do. Who am I kidding? It make zero sense to do 90% of what runners do. But we do it. Face it, you’ve reached out to a coach or found a marathon training program on Runners World or you picked up a book after creating a Pinterest board of Spring Marathons. Believe it or not, that part is damn hard. Just embarking on this mission is commendable. 


But you’re not looking to be commended. Are you? You want a medal don’t you? You want to walk around Boston or Eugene with that medal around your neck. Perhaps none of that part excites you but getting on the plane knowing that you just did something that took a crap ton of planning even before the program started is why you do it. You’re a “Lunch Pail Runner” and all you want to do is get to work.

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